Tag: Iran

Iranian state-sponsored hackers are regrouping after the shutdown last year of their main security forum, migrating to other forums and making new connections for potential cyber-response against mounting political pressures from the United States and Europe, according to a new report.

The data-wiping Shamoon malware resurfaced this week at Italian oil and gas contractor Saipem, where it destroyed files on about 10 percent of company PCs, according to a published report. The attacks may be linked to Saipem’s work with Saudi Aramco, a target of earlier Shamoon attacks.

The federal government charged two Iranian men for orchestrating a nearly three-year-long international hacking and extortion scheme that deployed ransomware which to date has caused more than $30 million in losses to its victims, which include hospitals, municipalities and public institutions.

In-brief: The Wall Street Journal alleges that hackers with links to Iran may have compromised a small dam in Rye, New York. If true, the incident is just the latest evidence of information security vulnerabilities in U.S. critical infrastructure.

A report from the security firm FireEye claims that hacking crews based in Iran have become more sophisticated in recent years. They are now linked to malicious software campaigns targeting western corporations and domestic actors who attempt to circumvent Internet filters put in place by the ruling regime. The report, dubbed “Operation Saffron Rose,”(PDF) was released on Tuesday. In a blog post accompanying the research, FireEye researchers say that it has identified a group of hackers it is calling the “Ajax Security Team” that appears to have emerged out of Iranian hacker forums such as Ashiyane and Shabgard. Once limited to website defacements, the Ajax team has graduated to malware-based espionage and other techniques associated with “advanced persistent threat” (APT) style actors, FireEye said. The researchers claim that the group has been observed using social engineering techniques to implant custom malware on victims’ computers. The group’s objectives seem to align with those […]